A strong upper level system dropped southeast from Western South Dakota into north central Nebraska on February 27th, 2009. Heavy snow with amounts of 4 to 8 inches with locally 12 inches occurred across portions of Cherry, Keya Paha, and Boyd County.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS LBF wrote it up.
A strong upper level system dropped southeast from Western South Dakota into north central Nebraska on February 27th, 2009. Heavy snow with amounts of 4 to 8 inches with locally 12 inches occurred across portions of Cherry, Keya Paha, and Boyd County.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 27, 3:05 AM CST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 305 AM CST FRI FEB 27 2009 .DISCUSSION... MODELS AS FAR BACK AS 4 DAYS AGO HAVE HINTED THIS CLOSED CIRCULATION DROPPING THROUGH THE REGION AND NOW WATER VAPOR HAS THIS FEATURE JUST EMERGING FROM NORTHERN ROCKIES. CONVECTIVE NATURE TO RETURNS ACROSS WESTERN NEB AS INITIAL ENERGY ROTATING AHEAD OF THE MAIN LOW IS MOVING THROUGH. THIS AREA IS ALSO ON LEADING EDGE OF COLD AIR DOME WITH SFC ANALYSIS SHOWING ARCTIC FRONT HUNG UP ACROSS HIGH PLAINS. SOME INDICATION OF NEG EPV ALSO ACROSS WESTERN NEB AS WELL. SOME REPORTS OF LIGHT SNOW IN OBS TO THE WEST BUT LOOKING AT 00Z LBF RAOB LOTS OF DRY ALOFT AND MUCH OF PCPN IS FALLING ALOFT AND EVENTUALLY WILL SATURATED FROM TOP DOWN ENOUGH TO GET PCPN TO GROUND. 00Z GFS/NAM BOTH HINTED AT FRONTO BAND IN UPSTREAM TROF AHEAD OF MAIN UPPER LOW WHICH PLACES THIS ACROSS SO PANHANDLE INTO SOUTHWEST/WEST CENTRAL NEB. HAVE INCREASED POPS IN THIS AREA AND LOOKING AT BUFKIT SOUNDING SNOW PRODUCTION COULD BE QUITE FAVORABLE WITH ELONGATED ISOTHERMAL LAYER BELOW SATURATED DENDRITIC LAYER ALONG WITH SHEARED LLVL PROFILE. OTHER AREA OF CONCERN WILL BE THE MAIN AREA OF SNOWFALL ACROSS CENTRAL/NCENTRAL NEBRASKA BY LATE MORNING AND LASTING WELL INTO THE LATE EVENING HOURS. THETA SFCS SHOWNING STRONG UP GLIDE WITH NOSE OF MOISTURE FLUX POINTED AT NORTH CENTRAL ZONES. WITH DEEP COLD AIR IN PLACE THERE ARE TWO DENDRITIC ZONES AND DEEP THICKNESS LAYER FOR DENDRITIC RESIDENCE TIME. CROSS SECTIONS ALSO INDICATE SOME NEG EPV MESHED IN FAVORABLE THETA E PROFILE AND OVERALL DEEP AGEO LIFT. SNOW BECOMING MORE ORGANIZED OVER SOUTWHEST SDAKT AND THIS SHOULD BE THE AREA THAT DROPS SOUTHEAST WARD THROUGH THE DAY. EXPECT FAIRLY HIGH SNOW/WATER RATIOS AND THIS HAS LEAD TO SNOW TOTALS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES OVER 4 COUNTIES IN FAR NORTHEAST. GOOD COLLAB BETWEEN OFFICES AND HAVE PLACED THIS IN ADV...THOUGH THIS VERY WELL COULD BE EXPANDED WESTWARD LATER THIS AFTERNOON DEPENDING ON TRENDS. MOISTURE WRAPPING ON BACK SIDE OF LOW IS IN FAVORABLE DENDRITIC ZONE AND ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE PRESENT SO KEPT SMALL PCPN CHANCE IN WEST AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH -12 TO -18 THICKNESS ALSO INCREASING. BEYOND THIS SYTEM DRY AND A WARMING TREND WILL BEGIN. TEMPERATURES WILL BE PROBLEMATIC THOUGH FOR AT LEAST NEXT SEVERAL DAYS WITH SNOW COVER...AND RECYCLED COLD AIR. THIS MOST EVIDENT ON SUNDAY IN ISC ATTM BUT EVEN SOUTH FLOW WILL NOT ALLOW FULL MIXING AS SEEN LAST WEEK. && .AVIATION... MVFR CIGS WILL PERSIST AT KVTN THROUGH THE 06Z TAF CYCLE. AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL BRING PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW TO KVTN FROM 12Z THROUGH 00Z/28TH DURING WHICH TIME MVFR VSBYS OF 1-3 SM WILL ALSO PREVAIL. AT KLBF...VFR CIGS AND VSBY SHOULD PREVAIL TIL 15Z. THEREAFTER...MVFR CIGS SHOULD DEVELOP WITH -SN TO MOVE IN NEAR 18Z AND PERSIST TIL 00Z/28TH WITH MVFR VSBYS 1-3 SM AT TIMES. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOWFALL ACROSS BOYD...HOLT...GARFIELD AND WHEELER COUNTIES FROM NOON CST TODAY UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. && 13/KAR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 454 AM CST FRI FEB 27 2009 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-281145- SHERIDAN-EASTERN CHERRY-KEYA PAHA-BOYD-BROWN-ROCK-HOLT-GARDEN- GRANT-HOOKER-THOMAS-BLAINE-LOUP-GARFIELD-WHEELER-ARTHUR-MCPHERSON- LOGAN-CUSTER-DEUEL-KEITH-PERKINS-LINCOLN-CHASE-HAYES-FRONTIER- WESTERN CHERRY- 454 AM CST FRI FEB 27 2009 /354 AM MST FRI FEB 27 2009/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS WILL CYCLE MUCH COLDER ARCTIC AIR ACROSS NEBRASKA FOR WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES TODAY. AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL DROP SOUTHEAST AND BRING ACCUMULATING SNOW TO CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FROM 2 TO 5 INCHES ARE LIKELY FOR AREAS EAST OF A LINE FROM VALENTINE THROUGH BROKEN BOW. THE HEAVIEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE EXPECTED A BIT FURTHER EAST ACROSS BOYD...HOLT... GARFIELD AND WHEELER COUNTY WHERE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. FURTHER SOUTHWEST...LIGHTER SNOWFALL AMOUNTS RANGING FROM A DUSTING UP TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL BE RATHER LIGHT AT 10 TO 15 MPH...SNOW MAY BECOME MODERATE TO AT TIMES HEAVY FROM LATE THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...REDUCING VISIBILITIES SIGNIFICANTLY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER REPORTS OF SNOWFALL THROUGH THIS EVENING RELAYED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED. && THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER... HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LBF(ALL LOWERCASE) KAR
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow with amounts of 4 to 8 inches occurred across eastern Cherry county during the morning and early afternoon hours on February 27th, 2009. A cooperative observer at Valentine reported 8 inches of snowfall.
Heavy snow with amounts of 6 to 8 inches occurred across Keya Paha county during the morning and afternoon hours on February 27th, 2009. A cooperative observer at Springview reported 8 inches of snowfall.
Heavy snow with amounts of 4 to 8 inches and locally 12 inches occurred across portions of western Cherry county during the morning and early afternoon hours on February 27th, 2009. A cooperative observer at Kilgore reported 12 inches of snowfall.
Heavy snow with amounts around 6 inches occurred across Boyd county during the morning and afternoon hours on February 27th, 2009. A cooperative observer at Butte reported 6 inches of snowfall.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, February 2009
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 150367, 150368, 150369, 150371.